Cleveland Golf is the latest equipment manufacturer to add a “full-face” option to their flagship wedge product. If you’re unfamiliar with the full-face design, it initially rose to prominence in 2015 when Phil Mickelson and Callaway collaborated on the PM Grind — a wedge that combined an Eye2-esque high toe with grooves that extended across the entire face.
The design made it easier for Mickelson — not to mention recreational golfers — to catch a groove on mega-flops that impacted the highest point on the toe. The full-face has since extended to almost every loft imaginable in the scoring clubs for a number of manufacturers, Cleveland included.
Cleveland’s spin on the full-face design is meant to add some versatility to its popular RTX ZipCore wedge lineup. The RTX Full-Face features the company’s UltiZip groove that’s 11 percent sharper and 7.3 percent deeper than its predecessor. The space between each groove was also tightened to allow for additional grooves on the high-toe profile. The end result is more groove contact at impact to ramp up spin.
“The RTX Full-Face maintains the traditional and striking clean look that golfers have come to expect from a Cleveland wedge,” said Ryan Polanco, Cleveland Golf’s general manager, “all while adding shotmaking creativity with grooves across the entire face.”
To prolong the life of the grooves, a timed heat treatment process was added to the 8620 carbon steel grain structure to reduce internal stresses.
Similar to the current RTX ZipCore, the Full-Face version offers a low-density core house inside the hosel that allowed designers to reposition discretionary weight and shift the center of gravity closer to the sweet spot — all while increasing forgiveness at the same time.
In other words, the wedge is built to help you find the center of the face without sacrificing spin and distance consistency.
The RTX Full-Face comes in two finishes (Tour Satin and Tour Rack) with an aggressive C-Grind sole that has noticeable heel and toe relief that’s ideal for open face shots on medium to firm playing conditions. The raw Tour Rack finish also offers optional trailing edge relief. The leading edge can also be tightened for tight Tour-like conditions; a softer leading edge is available for soft conditions (or a steeper attack angle).
The RTX Full-Face Tour Satin ($159.99) comes in seven lofts (50, 52, 54, 56, 58, 60 and 64 degrees) lofts while the RTX Full-Face Tour Rack ($179.99) is offered in four lofts (56, 58, 60 and 64 degrees).
Cleveland’s RTX Full-Face wedge hits retail shelves June 11.
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